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Start a conversationPre-application advice, explained.
What it buys, what it costs, and why the written record matters later.
Reviewed October 2026
The short answer
Pre-application advice is the council's written view of your scheme, sometimes with a meeting, before you apply. Each English council sets its own charge: for one new home, eight we checked in October 2026 charged from £332.40 to £960. It does not bind the decision, though councils should take it into account.
In practice · Avonbury Business Park
Two tests named in advance
Good advice names the tests before you pay for an application. Here the council's written response set two, and the application that followed was built around them.
The order of work
01Sketch proposalOne office, 2018.
02Pre-applicationSite visit and report, November 2018.
03Tests answeredStrategy and design, early 2019.
04GrantedNineteen conditions, July 2019.
A two-storey office of 557 square metres, filling the last corner of a business park at Bicester, inside the North West Bicester policy area. Growing tenants needed more space, and everything rested on permission for one building.
The job
- Site
- Avonbury Business Park, one new office at Bicester
- Role
- Architect and planning agent, sketch to consent
- Advice
- Cherwell ref 18/00226/PREAPP, November 2018
- Outcome
- Granted, ref 19/00313/F, July 2019, with 19 conditions
The council's report of November 2018 said a future application would be considered favourably in principle if it came with an economic strategy and met the design principles of the area's policy. Highways asked for 19 more parking spaces and a transport statement.
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The report also listed what an application would need, including a transport statement and an energy statement, and the council's ecologist expected no ecological survey unless the parking removed substantial vegetation or trees.
The full application was registered in February 2019 and granted under delegated powers in July 2019: twelve months from sketch to consent, six of them spent settling the principle before an application was paid for.
The advice could not promise the decision. Its value was that the tests were known before the application fee was spent.
The proof
Four more enquiries, four outcomes.
Negative · then granted
The Highfield
Seven apartments next to the Kenilworth conservation area, beside a listed building. The council's written response of November 2019 said it was unlikely to support the proposal, unless a detailed scheme met five written tests. The application answered each, and was granted in August 2020.
Warwick ref W/19/2064 · View project
Advice · before applying
A field barn
A stone barn alone in a field in south Northamptonshire. The council's written response of September 2025 found the principle likely acceptable but the design likely not. The advice came before any application was paid for, and none had been made by October 2026.
Written advice 2025 · View project
Advice · used at appeal
The White House
A replacement for a Green Belt bungalow near Hatton. The council's own pre-application figures counted the garage in the existing floor area; when it later left the garage out, the appeal statement pointed back to them, and the Inspector counted it too, allowing the appeal in March 2021.
Warwick ref W/20/0331 · View project
What it costs · meeting
Padel courts
A four-court padel club planned on employment land in Coventry. Written advice and an officer meeting in June 2026 backed the building but not yet the principle, naming the tests to pass; the council's charge was £936 including VAT.
Ref PRE/2026/0106 · View project
Every planning application we make in our own name is a matter of public record on a council register, and ours reach more than 100 planning authorities across the UK.
Feasibility and site appraisal →
01 · Where you stand
Decide whether to ask first
Pre-application advice is optional for most projects. The Framework of August 2026 expects early engagement for major development, such as ten or more homes or 1,000 square metres of new floor space, and a major scheme's planning statement should say how far it changed in response.
In England, the law requires community consultation before applying only for wind turbine schemes of more than two turbines, or with a hub above 15 metres. The Framework also expects early discussions for telecoms equipment and for new schemes next to existing businesses or venues they could affect, and says engagement may be required for complex matters such as heritage.
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Advice suits a project where the principle, the scale or a constraint is in doubt, because it tells you what the council will look for before you pay for an application. In England, since 6 December 2023, a revised application after a refusal pays the full fee again.
For a scheme that may need an environmental impact assessment, a screening opinion is due within three weeks of a request, and a scoping opinion within five, unless the period is extended.
02 · The routes
Four ways to ask
Councils offer advice at different depths, and each level has its own price and its own limits.
Route 01
Written advice only
You send a description, a location plan and a layout with the fee, and the council replies in writing. On charges checked on 14 October 2026, written advice on an unlisted home cost from £115 at Rugby to £193.82 at Cherwell; listed homes can cost more.
Where it fails: the answer is only as good as what you send, which must let the council take an informed view.
Route 02
Advice with a meeting
A meeting or site visit with the officer, then a written response, which stays the record. It costs more: in October 2026 Warwick charged double for both, and promised the written response within two weeks of the meeting.
Where it fails: highways, drainage and other specialist advice is often a separate service, with its own charge.
Route 03
Performance agreement
For large or complex schemes, a planning performance agreement sets a timetable, actions and resources for the application. It must be agreed before submission to replace the statutory time limit, and any charge comes on top of the application fee.
Where it fails: it commits the council to a process and a timetable, never to a particular outcome on the scheme.
Route 04
No advice at all
You apply straight away, and the council has the statutory period to decide: usually 8 weeks, 13 for major development, or 16 where an environmental statement is needed. It can suit a straightforward scheme, but any problem then surfaces after the fee is paid.
Where it fails: in England, since 6 December 2023, there is no free second go, so a revised application pays in full.
03 · The record
A no is a written brief
Pre-application advice cannot bind the decision, but it is not worthless. National guidance says it can be a material consideration, the Framework of August 2026 tells councils to take account of it, and a major scheme's planning statement should say how far it changed in response.
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At The Highfield the council's response said it was unlikely to support the proposal, unless a detailed scheme met five written tests. Those five tests became the brief, and the application was granted at the first attempt.
Every notice granting planning permission with conditions, or refusing it, must also say whether and how the council worked with the applicant positively and proactively. Warwick's notices use that statement to promote its pre-application service.
Common questions
Pre-application advice, answered
What is a pre-planning application?
Pre-application advice is not an application: you ask the council for its written view of a proposal before applying, usually for a charge.
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National guidance says an applicant should expect a clear, timely and authoritative view on the merits of the proposal, with advice on what to submit with the application. The national application form asks whether you had advice. The guidance accepts that a scheme may change in response.
How much does pre-application advice cost?
In England each council sets its own charge, at no more than its cost. On 14 October 2026 written householder advice cost from £115.
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Advice on one new home cost from £332.40 to £960 on the same date: Birmingham £332.40 for written advice; West Northamptonshire £400 with a meeting; Stratford-on-Avon £425 for written advice; Warwick £480, or £960 for written advice and a meeting; Coventry £936 for up to two homes; Solihull £940 for up to five. For 10 to 49 homes Coventry charged £6,228. All figures include VAT. Highways and other specialist advice can cost extra.
How long does pre-application advice take?
From 14 days to 10 weeks on the published standards checked on 14 October 2026, depending on the council and the scheme.
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The 14 days was Coventry's written householder advice; the 10 weeks was West Northamptonshire for 10 to 49 homes. Warwick sends written advice within five weeks of registering a request. Rugby aims for 20 working days, or 30 for major schemes. Standards are not promises: Solihull, citing limited capacity, expected to take six to nine months. Time spent at pre-application does not count towards the 8, 13 or 16 weeks a council has to decide the application itself.
Is pre-application advice binding?
No. National guidance says it cannot pre-empt the democratic decision-making process or a particular outcome, though it can be a material consideration.
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The courts have held that a council cannot be held to an officer's informal view by estoppel. The Framework of August 2026 tells councils to take account of matters raised at pre-application, including positive responses. Six of the eight council pages we read in October 2026 said their advice could not bind or guarantee a decision.
Do I have to get pre-application advice?
Not in law in England. Pre-application advice is optional, though the Framework of August 2026 expects early engagement for major development.
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Wind turbine schemes of more than two turbines, or with a hub above 15 metres, must consult the local community first. The Framework also expects discussions for telecoms equipment and for new schemes next to existing businesses they could affect. It says advice may be required for complex matters such as heritage. Not every council offers it at every level: in October 2026 Solihull offered no householder service.
Is pre-application advice confidential?
Not reliably. It is treated as environmental information and the Environmental Information Regulations presume disclosure, so a council may have to release it on request.
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Councils' statements differed in October 2026: Warwick's page treated it as publicly available unless you said otherwise, while West Northamptonshire kept it confidential until a related application was made. In 2026 a tribunal held that the confidentiality of pre-application advice is time-sensitive, not a restriction for all time.
What should I send with a pre-application request?
Enough to give the council an informed view: usually its form, a location plan, a site or layout plan, a description and the fee.
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National guidance says you need not send everything a full application would carry. Councils generally start work once the fee is paid. A meeting or site visit usually costs more than written advice alone.
What if the pre-application advice is negative?
There is no appeal against advice. You can change the scheme, as national guidance anticipates, or apply anyway and appeal if refused.
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If you are unhappy with the service itself, the route is the council's complaints procedure. Any refund depends on its terms. A negative response that names its reasons is still useful: it tells you what an application must answer.
Sources
Where this page comes from
The main rules here come from the sources below.
Checked 14 October 2026
- Framework
- National Planning Policy Framework, DM1 and DM3
- Guidance
- Before submitting an application, planning guidance
- Charging
- Local Government Act 2003, section 93: charges at cost
- Decisions
- Procedure Order 2015, article 35: decision notices
- Consultation
- Town and Country Planning Act 1990, section 61W
- Tribunal
- Vassar v Information Commissioner, 2026
- Fees
- Fees amendment 2023: the free second application ended
- Councils
- Pre-application pages of the eight councils named here, 14 October 2026
- Our record
- Council letters, notices and an appeal decision for the five projects
Written by
Rickett Architects
A RIBA Chartered practice, working since 1970, with more than 2,500 projects behind it. Our senior architects take projects from first survey through planning to completion, for private clients, developers and landowners across the Midlands and well beyond it.